“10 Proven, Appealing and Essential for Marketing Your Business Successfully”

Ever since Volney Palmer opened the world’s first advertising agency in 1843, marketing professionals have been arguing, debating, and searching for the answer to the question. “What makes a good advertisement?” That this debate has never been settled is obvious to anyone who has ever created an ad for a client’s approval-or tried to get top management to approve a piece of copy.

Despite the billions of dollars spent by American business in creating, running, testing, and measuring advertising effectiveness, no one has discovered a magic secret that will ensure a winner every time. If such a secret existed, the person who knew it would be a multi-billionaire.

At the same time, we recognize that some ads are successful, while others are not. We see that certain companies and copywriters hit the mark more often than they miss…

while others don’t. We will explore the techniques, methods, and principles that can help improve the odds that the next ad you create will be a winner-one that generates the immediate sales results you desire.

Through long years of experience, advertisers and advertising agencies have uncovered some basic principles of sound advertising strategy, copywriting, and design. Following these suggestions won’t guarantee you a winner. But is can help to prevent you from making costly mistakes that could destroy the selling power of a potentially lucrative ad. The following are ten rules that I have gleaned from years of experience in the field:

Ads That Sell by Robert W. Bly is available through Asher-Gallant Press, division of Caddylak Systems, Inc. 131 Heartland Blvd. P.O. Box W. Brentwood, New York 11717-0698, or toll free 1-800-523-8060; price $39.95.

THE RIGHT PRODUCT FOR THE RIGHT AUDIENCE

The first step is to make sure you are advertising a product that is potentially useful to the people reading your advertisement. This seems to be a simple and obvious rule. Yet, many clients believe that a great ad can sell anything to anyone. They are wrong.

“Copy cannot create desire for a product,” writes Eugene Schwartz in his book, Breakthrough Advertising. “It can only focus already-existing desires onto a particular product. The copywriter’s task is not to create this mass desire-but to channel and direct it.” For example, no advertisement, no matter how powerfully written, will convince the vegetarian to have a steak dinner at your new restaurant. But your ad might-if persuasively worded-entice him or her to try your salad bar.

Charles Inlander, of the People’s Medical Society, is a master at finding the right product for the right audience. His ad, “Do you recognize the seven early warning signs of high blood pressure?”, sold more than 20,000 copies of a $4.95 book on blood pressure when ran approximately 10 times in Prevention Magazine over a three year period. “First, you select your topic,” said Inlander, explaining the secret of his advertising success, “then you must find the right place to advertise. It’s important to pinpoint a magazine whose readers are the right prospects for what you are selling.” In other words, the right product for the right audience.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HEADLINE

Next to the selection of subject matter and the placement of your ad in the proper publication, the headline is the most important element of your ad.

The main purpose of the headline is to grab the reader’s attention and make him stop long enough to notice and start reading your ad. You can achieve this an several ways. For example, here’s an attention grabbing headline from an ad published in my local newspaper.

IMPORTANT NEWS FOR WOMEN WITH FLAT OR THINNING HAIR

This headline is effective in gaining the attention of the prospect for two reasons:

(1) it promises important news, and (2) it identifies the prospects for the service (women with flat or thinning hair). Incidentally, this ad persuades more than 1,200 readers a month to clip a coupon and send for a free brochure on a hair conditioning procedure.

THE VISUAL WORKS WITH THE HEADLINE

The ad should be illustrated with a photograph or drawing that visually communicates the main idea in the headline.

Together, the headline and visual should get the gist of your sales pitch across to the reader. “Every good ad should be able to stand as a poster,” writes Alastair Crompton in his book. The Craft of Copywriting. “The reader should never have to dip into the small print in order to understand the point of the story.

Often simple visuals are the best visuals. “We tested two different mail order ads selling a collector’s reproduction of a watch originally manufactured into he 1920’s,” said Will Stone, of the Hamilton Watch Company. “One ad used a large dramatic photo showing the watch against a plain background. The other visual had less emphasis on the product and focused on a scene depicting the ‘roaring twenties’ period during which the watch was originally made. It showed flappers and a 1920’s car. The ad with the straight product photo-’product as hero’-generated three times as many sales as the other version.”

As a general rule, simple visuals that show the product or illustrate some aspect of its use are better than unusual, creative concepts that can actually hide what you are selling, thus reducing the ad’s selling power.

THE LEAD PARAGRAPH EXPANDS ON THE THEME OF THE HEADLINE

The lead must instantly follow-up on the idea expressed in the headline. For instance, if the headline asks a burning question, the lead should immediately answer it. The promises made to the reader in the headline (e.g., “Learn the secrets to richer, moister chocolate cake”) must be fulfilled in the first few paragraphs of copy. Otherwise, the reader feels disappointed and turns the page.

Here is an example of how this works. This is from an ad selling a business opportunity:

QUIT YOUR JOB OR START

PART-TIME

Chimney Sweeps Are Urgently Needed Now

My name is Tom Risch. I’m going to show you how to make $200 a day saving people from dangerous chimney fires…

Do not waste the reader’s time with a “warm-up” paragraph. Instead, go straight to the heart of the matter. In editing a first draft, an important question to ask yourself is, “Can I eliminate my first paragraph and start with my second or third paragraph?” Eight times out of ten, you can-and the copy will be straightened as a result.

Wouldn’t advertising help your business?

The competition is fierce!

You need more sales-power to get the

business you want. We create compelling

ads, classified ads, sales promotion, catalogs.

Phone today. You’ve nothing to lose, everything to gain.

Call Fred Lewis, President

Lewis Advertising Agency

17 Academy Street, Newark, NJ. 07102

(201) 642-4800

Member American Association of Advertising Agencies

THE LAYOUT DRAWS THE READER INTO THE AD

This is something that cannot be described in words but is experienced visually. Take a minute or two to flip through ads. Some ads will seem friendly, others inviting. And some will seen to draw your eye to the page, and make reading a pleasure. This is the type of layout you want to use in your ads. Avoid layouts that make the ad hard to read or discourage readers from even trying.

One key point to keep in mind is that your ad should have “focal point”-a central, dominant visual element that draws the reader’s eye to the page. This is usually the headline or the visual. (1 often prefer to make it the headline, since a good headline can usually communicate more effectively than a picture.) But it might also be the coupon, or perhaps the lead paragraph of copy. Keep in mind that when there are two or more equally prominent visuals competing for the eye’s attention, readers become confused and don’t know where to “enter” your ad and start reading. Always make one element larger and more prominent than the others.

THE BODY COPY SUPPORTS AND EXPANDS UPON THE IDEA PRESENTED IN THE HEADLINE AND LEAD PARAGRAPH OF COPY

What facts should be included in your body copy? Which should be left out? the decision is made by listings all the key points and then deciding which are strongest and will best convince the reader to respond to your advertisement.

Start by listing all the features of your products and the benefits people get from each feature. For instance, a feature of an air conditioner is that its energy efficiency rating is 9.2; the benefit is lower electric hill.

After making a complete list of features and benefits, list them in order of importance. Then begin your body copy with the most important benefit. Incorporate the rest of the benefits on your list until you have sufficient copy. Now, you’ve written copy that highlights the most important reasons to buy the product, given the space limitations of your ad.

BE SPECIFIC

“Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck,” wrote Claude Hopkins in his classic book, Scientific Advertising. “They leave no impression whatever.

The most common mistake I see in advertising today is “lazy copy” -copy written by copywriters who were too lazy to take the time to learn about their audience and understand the features and benefits of their product-the reasons why someone would want to buy it.

Good advertising is effective largely because it is specific. There are two benefits to being specific: First, it gives the customer the information he or she needs before making a buying decision. Second, it creates believability. As Hopkins points out, people are more likely to believe a specific factual claim than a boast, superlative, or generalization.

Does this mean ad copy should be a litany of facts and figures? No. But the copywriter’s bet weapon is the selective use of facts to support his sales pitch. Here are some examples of well-written, specific, factual copy, taken from ads:

One out of every four Americans has high blood pressure. Yet only half these people know it. You may be one of them. If you are over forty, you owe it to yourself to have your blood pressure checked…

The Mobilaire ® 5000.59 pounds of Westinghouse air conditioning in a compact unit that cools rooms 12’x16’ or smaller. Carry one home, install it in minutes-it plugs in like a lamp into any adequately wired circuit. Fits any window 19 1/8” to 42” wide.

BluBlockers filter out blue light making everything appear sharper, clearer and with greater 3-dimensional look to it. Blue is the shortest light wave in the visible spectrum and focuses slightly in front of our retina which is the focusing screen in our eyes. By filtering out the blue in the BlueBlocker lenses, our visions is enhanced and everything appears to have a 3-dimensional look to it. But there’s more…

START WITH THE PROSPECT, NOT THE PRODUCT

This may sound like a contradiction, but it’s not.

Your ad must be packed with information about the product. The information must be important to the reader…information that he will find interesting or fascinating…information that will answer his questions, satisfy his curiosity, or cause him to believe the claims you make. Information, in short, that will convince him to buy your product.

The reader’s own concerns, needs, desires, fears, and problems are all more important to him than your product, your company, and your goals. Good advertising copy, as Dr. Jeffery Lant points out, is “ client-centered.” It focuses on the prospect and how your product solves his problem.

For instance, instead of saying, “We have more than 50 service centers nationwide.” Translate this statement into a reader benefit: “You’ll be assured of prompt, courteous service and fast delivery of replacement parts from one of our 50 service centers located nationwide.” Don’t say “energy efficient” when you can say “cuts your summer electric bills in half.

The real “star” of your ad is the half. Your product is second, and is only of concern in that it relates to a need, desire, or problem the reader has or a benefit he wants. Your company is a distant third the least important element of your copy-if is only of concern if it measures those prospects who want to do business with a well-known firm that has a good reputation and is financially stable.

WRITE IN A CLEAR, SIMPLE NATURAL, CONVERSATIONAL STYLE

According to Business Marketing magazine’s Copy Chasers, a panel of judges who regularly critique advertising in a monthly column, good ad copy should sound like “one friend talking to another.

I agree. Copy should not be pompous, remote, aloof, or written in “corporatese.” The most effective copy is written in a plain, simple, conversational style-the way a sincere person talks when he wants to help or advise you.

I think Madison Avenue has created an accepted style for ad copy that all the big agencies now use. This “style” is the type of copy that seems to deliberately remind you that you are reading an ad. It is self conscious copy. Avoid this type of slick lingo.

Read some of the ads in the mail order, health care, financial, and lead generating chapters of this book. This is the type of style and tone you want to achieve.

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT THE READER TO DO NEXT-THEN ASK HIM TO DO IT-AND MAKE IT EASY

There are three steps for turning your ad into a response-generating marketing tool. First, decide what type of response you want. What action do you want the reader to take? Do you want your prospect to phone or write you, or clip a coupon and mail it back to you? Do you want the reader to visit your store, request a copy of your catalog or sales brochure, set up an appointment to see a salesperson, test drive your product, or order your product directly from the ad? Decide what you want the reader to do.

Second, tell the reader to do it. The last few paragraphs of your copy should spell out the action you want the reader to take and give him reasons to take it. For instance:

Just clip the coupon or call toll-free now and we’ll send you this policy FREE without obligation as a special introduction to EMPLOYMENT GUIDE.

So why not call 1-800-FINE4WD for a dealer convenient to you?

Just send in the card (or the coupon) and have some fun with your first issue. Then pay us after you’ve taken a look.

And send for DISPLAY MASTERS’ invaluable FREE booklet on Point-of Purchase Marketing. “33 Ways to Better Displays: What Every Marketing Executive Should Know About Point-of-Purchase Displays in Today’s Market.”

The third step is to give the reader a mechanism for responding. Emphasize this mechanism in your layout to simplify the process of making contact with you.

In print advertising, this is accomplished through the use of a toll-free phone number (usually printed in large type to attract attention to it) or by including a coupon you to insert a reply card, which is bound into the magazine and appears opposite your ad. This is an expensive technique, but it can dramatically increase replies.

Even if your ad is not primarily a response ad (and with rare exception, I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want response), you should still make it easy for your reader to get in touch should he want to do business with you. This means always including an address and telephone number.

Recently, I saw a television commercial for Lilco (Long Island Lighting Company) offering a free booklet on electricity. The ad informed viewers they could get the booklet by calling their local Lilco office-but no phone number was mentioned in the commercial! This is a response-killing mentality that many advertisers embrace that I will never understand. Why make it difficult for people to get in touch with you or order your product? It doesn’t make sense.

A client recently phoned with a problem I’d encountered many times before.

“Our new ad campaign’s main goal is to create awareness and build image, not generate sales leads,” the ad manager explained. “But my management still tends to judge ads by counting the number of inquiries they bring in. Is there some way I can increase my ad’s pulling power without destroying the basic campaign concept?”

Fortunately, the answer is yes.

There are proven techniques you can use to increase any ads pulling power, whether your main goal is inquiries or image. Here are 31 techniques that can work for you:

Ask for action. Tell the reader to phone, write, contact his sales rep, request technical literature or place an order.

Offer free information, such as a color brochure or catalog.

Describe your brochure or catalog. Tell about its special features, such as a selection chart, planning guide, installation tips or other useful information it contains.

Show a picture of your brochure or catalog.

Give your literature a title that implies value. “Product Guide” is better than “catalog.” “Planning Kit” is better than “sales brochure.”

Include your address in the last paragraph of copy and beneath your logo, in type that is easy to read. (Also place it inside the coupon, if you use one).

Include a toll free number in your ad.

Print the toll-free number in extra-large type.

Put a small sketch of a telephone next to the phone number. Also use the phrase, “Call toll-free.”

Create a hot line. For example, a filter manufacturer might have a toll-free hot line with the numbers 1-800-FILTERS. Customers can call the hot line to place an order to get more information on the manufacturer’s products.

For a full-page ad, use a coupon. It will increase response 25% to 100%.

Make the coupon large enough that readers have plenty of room to write in their name and address.

Give the coupon a headline that affirms positive action -”Yes, I’d like to cut my energy costs by 50% or more.”

Give the reader multiple response options-”I’d like to see a demonstration,” “Have a salesperson call,” “Send me a free planning kit by return mail.”

For a fractional ad-one-half page or less-put a heavy dashed border around the ad. This creates the feel and appearance of a coupon, which in turn stimulates response.

In the closing copy for your fractional ad, say, “To receive more information, clip this ad and mail it to us with your business card.”

A bound-in- business reply card, appearing opposite your ad, can increase response by a factor or two or more.

Use a direct headline-one that promises a benefit or stresses the offer of free information-rather than a headline that is cute or clever.

Put your offer of a free booklet, report, selection guide or other publication in the headline of your ad.

Talk abut the value and benefits of your free offer. The more you stress the offer, the better your response.

Highlight the free offer in a copy subhead. The last subhead of your ad could read, “Get the facts-Free.”

In a two-page ad, run copy describing your offer in a separate sidebar.

Be sure the magazine includes a reader service number in your ad.

Use copy and graphics that specifically point the reader toward using the reader service number. For example, an arrow pointing to the number and copy that says, “For more information circle reader service number below.”

Consider using more than one reader service number. For example, one number for people who want literature, another for immediate response from a salesperson.

In a full-page ad for multiple products, have a separate reader service number for each product or piece of literature featured in the ad.

Test different ads. Keep track of how many inquiries each ad pulls. Then run only those ads that pull the best.

Look for a sales appeal, key benefit, or theme that may be common to all of your best-pulling ads. Highlight that theme in subsequent ads.

To define what constitutes good print advertising, we begin with what a good print ad is not:

It is not creative for the sake of being creative.

It is not designed to please copywriters, art directors, agency presidents, or even clients.

Its main purpose is not to entertain, win awards, or shout at the readers, “I am an ad. Don’t you admire my fine writing, bold graphics, and clever concept?”

In other words, ignore most of what you would learn as a student in any basic advertising class or as a trainee in one of the big Madison Avenue consumer ad agencies.

Okay. So that’s what an ad shouldn’t be. As for what an ad should be, here are some characteristics shared by successful direct response print ads:

They stress a benefit. The main selling proposition is not cleverly hidden but is made immediately clear. Example: “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

They arouse curiosity and invite readership. The key here is not to be outrageous but to address the strongest interests and concerns of your target audience. Example: “Do you Make These Mistakes in English?” appeals to the reader’s desire to avoid embarrassment and write and speak properly.

They provide information. The headline “How to Stop Emission Problems—at Half the Cost of Conventional Air Pollution Control Devices” lures the reader because it promises useful information. Prospects today seek specific, usable information on highly specialized topics. Ads that provide information the reader wants get higher readership and better response.

They are knowledgeable. Successful ad copy reflects a high level of knowledge and understanding of the product and the problem it solves. An effective technique is to tell the reader something he already knows, proving that you, the advertiser, are well-versed in his industry, application, or requirement.

An opposite style, ineffectively used by many “professional” agency copywriters, is to reduce everything to the simplest common denominator and assume the reader is completely ignorant. But this can insult the reader’s intelligence and destroy your credibility with him.

They have a strong free offer. Good ads contain a stronger offer. They tell the reader the next step in the buying process and encourage him to take it NOW.

All ads should have an offer, because the offer generates immediate response and business from prospects who are ready to buy now or at least thinking about buying. Without an offer, these “urgent” prospects are not encouraged to reach out to you, and you lose many potential customers.

In addition, strong offers increase readership, because people like ads that offer them something—especially if it is free and has high perceived value.

Writers of image advertising may object, “But doesn’t making an offer cheapen the ad, destroy our image? After all, we want awareness, not response.” But how does offering a free booklet weaken the rest of the ad? It doesn’t, of course. The entire notion that you cannot simultaneously elicit a response and communicate a message is absurd and without foundation.

They are designed to emphasize the offer.

Graphic techniques such as “kickers” or eyebrows (copy lines above the headline), bold headlines, liberal use of subheads, bulleted or numbered copy points, coupons, sketches of telephone, toll-free numbers set in large type, pictures of response booklets and brochures, dashed borders, asterisks, and marginal notes make your ads more eye-catching and response-oriented, increasing readership.

Why? My theory is that when people see a non-direct response ad, they know it’s just a reminder-type ad and figure they don’t have to read it. But when they see response-type graphic devices, these visuals say to the reader, “Stop! This is a response ad! Read it so you can find out what we are offering. And mail the coupon—so you can get it NOW!”

They are clearly illustrated. Good advertising does not use abstract art or concepts that force the reader to puzzle out what is being sold. Ideally, you should be able to understand exactly what the advertiser’s proposition is within five seconds of looking at the ad. As John Caples observed a long time ago, the best visual for an ad for a record club is probably a picture of records.

At about this point, someone from DDB will stand up and object: “Wait a minute. You said these are the characteristics of a successful direct response ad. But isn’t general advertising different?”

Maybe. But one of the ways to make your general advertising more effective is to write and design it as a direct response ad. Applying all the stock-in-trade techniques of the direct marketer (coupons, toll-free numbers, free booklets, reason-why copy, benefit-headlines, informative subheads) virtually guarantees that your advertisement will be better read—and get more response—than the average “image” ad.

I agree with Howard Ruff when he says that everything a marketer does should be direct response. I think the general advertising people who claim that a coupon or free booklet offer “ruins” their lyrical copy or stark, dramatic layout are ineffectual artists more interested in appearance and portfolios than results.

When the UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising analyzed the effectiveness of ads taken from a large database of award-winning campaigns, they found that the ads with emotional content performed TWICE as well as those that relied on rational content.

In other words, as every copywriter knows, you should always appeal to your audience’s emotions.

And one of the simplest ways to connect with people emotionally is through a conversational voice.

People feel mistrustful of the formal marketing voice and are unlikely to open up emotionally to your sales pitch.

But when you talk in a more open and conversational tone, your voice feels more human, believable and real.

That’s how you forge emotional connections and pave the way for a sale.

Pitch #2: Conversational copywriting is super-persuasive because it leverages the natural enthusiasm of spoken language.

If you think formal sales copywriting is the only way to make a sale, you’ve clearly never been to a political rally or to your local house of worship.

The spoken word carries massive power. History’s greatest orators and preachers have changed the world with their speeches… with the spoken word.

Closer to home, if you have a teenager in the house, you’ve doubtless heard his or her impassioned pleas for permission to stay out late on a Friday night.

Conversational copywriting draws from the structure of spoken language, and borrows from the persuasive vocabulary used by orators, preachers and teenager alike.

Get it right and conversational copywriting can be powerfully persuasive.

When using this approach, you’ll be comparing conversational copywriting with the adversarial, in-you-face approach to sales made notorious by used car salesmen and late-night TV infomercial hosts.

When you frame it like this, you’re exaggerating. Not many marketers push that hard.

But it’s still a valid comparison, because the entire old-school, broadcast approach to copywriting is now outdated.

This is particularly true when you’re marketing online. The web is by definition a social and conversational medium.

Consumers are in conversation with their friends through social media all the time. They are keenly aware of the difference between a conversational voice and an overly promotional voice.

And they have plenty of reasons to mistrust the overly promotional voice.

If you want to engage those people, earn their trust and close the sale, you’re better off taking the more natural, conversational approach.

Pitch #4: Conversational copywriting is disarming and invites people to lower their defenses.

We are all bombarded by thousands of advertising messages every single day. And we’ve become pretty good at simply ignoring most of them.

But when a sales pitch gets past our standard filters, we respond in one of two ways.

Both responses take place at a neurological level.

There’s a whole industry out there that focuses on neurological marketing. Using a variety of approaches, including MRI machines, they track our responses to promotional pitches.

And when a sales message comes over as too pushy and insistent, a part of the brain called the amygdala lights up like a Christmas tree.

When the amygdala lights up, it’s game over for the advertiser. The amygdala is the “fight or flight” part of our brain. Very old and very primitive. It will protect you from sabre-toothed tigers by making you run for your life. And it will protect you from loud advertisers by simply “closing your mind” to the noise.

This happens at a neurological level. We actively switch off inbound messages that are too loud and adversarial.

But using the same MRI machines, researchers have shown that a quieter, more conversational approach has a quite different effect. The amygdala stays quiet and the prefrontal cortex lights up.

The prefrontal cortex is where we take higher-level decisions.

Put simply, when your promotional message leaves the amygdala alone, you’re essentially disarming your reader and making her feel safe enough to listen to what you have to say.

This is a huge deal, and a powerful argument for the conversational approach to marketing.

Pitch #5: Conversational copywriting lets you reach out to your audience more often without burning through their trust.

In the words of Niall FitzGerald, former Chairman and CEO of Unilever…

“You can have all the facts and figures, all the supporting evidence, all the endorsements that you want, but if at the end of the day you don’t command trust, you won’t get anywhere.”

Trust is everything. Without trust people won’t buy from you. They definitely won’t have anything positive to say about you to their friends or colleagues.

That’s why, in the online world in particular, you need to stop shouting at your audience and start engaging with them in a more open and transparent way.

Openness and transparency build trust. It’s that simple.

Mix and match to suit the situation…

I hope you find these 5 pitch approaches helpful.

Maybe you’re pitching a prospective client.

Or perhaps you just want to persuade a colleague to lighted up on the traditional, blunt-force approach to marketing online.

Either way, you can mix and match these ideas to best suit your situation.

Like I said at the beginning, you’ll find all 5 pitch approaches at their most compelling when the freelancers or marketers you’re competing with are still hanging onto the traditional, broadcast approach to copywriting.

How many times have you said ―Great ad, only to quickly forget about the product or service?

Many agencies and marketing firms want you to believe that creative, edgy, even risky advertising works, that advertising is about getting people interested in the ad first. This isn‘t true.People don‘t buy ads. They don‘t even really buy products. What they buy are benefits.

So while you initially want your sales message to catch a consumer‘s attention, what you really want is for the copy you write to strike an emotional chord and set up a domino effect that will lead to a sale.

Do You Know Who You‘re Talking To?

When you write an ad or sales letter, seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words, first strive to understand what’s going on in the reader‘s mind, and attempt to allay any fears or doubts.

When you do this, the reader will have the perception that you understand and care about him and he in turn will begin to care about and understand you ─ thus greatly increasing your chances for making the sale.

People desperately want to feel cared for and understood more than anything else. The businesses that understand this vital psychological factor will gain a major advantage over their competitors. In your sales letter, make certain to mention to your readers that it will only take a few minutes, to show them how they can benefit from what you’re offering.

This will mentally slow them down and partially alleviate any hesitation on their part.

Supermarket Sweep

The best way to learn how to write good copy is to read good copy. I suggest you start at your supermarket or newsstand where you‘ll find a mother lode of copywriting inspiration in the tabloids!

These mad magazines have elevated headline writing to an art seldom seen elsewhere. From celebrity scandals to alien babies, their splashy covers are a study in what grabs eyes and holds attention.

Another copywriter‘s resource is junk mail – snail mail and electronic mail. Some of it is very good copy. With this manual, you’ve learned to recognize good copy when you see it, so when you see it, keep it; and start a file of it.

This is called a swipe file ─ yes it means what it says ─ you will start to swipe words and phrases from this good copy and make it your own.

Watch for ads that last a long time. It is more than likely that those ads are making money…and that makes them worth studying.

Nothing New Under the Sun Including Plagiarism

All good copywriters swipe and most copywriters got their ideas and training from the experts that went before them. But be sure you stay on the legal side of the swipe fence. Don’t use someone else’s complete phrases, sentences, paragraph order, etc. as your ad…use it as the template.

One thing you don‘t have to beg, borrow, or steal are the following…

TOOL: Copywriting Ideas You‘re Free To Swipe

Use short, colorful words that are simple

Write at an eighth grade level

Use contractions because that is how people talk and you want your copy (or spoken ad) to sound natural

Test the numbering of product benefits

Illustrate the effectiveness of your product with comparison tables

Give quality information in the operation or use of your product

Write copy that is conversational

Use copy that acts like a sales presentation delivered person to person

Use reasons why people should be interested in your product

Use specific facts and statistics to explain how benefits can be realized

If an ad fails to gain attention, it fails totally. Unless you gain the prospect’s attention, he or she won’t read any of your copy. And if the prospect doesn’t

read your copy, he or she won’t receive the persuasive message you’ve so carefully crafted.

There are numerous ways to gain attention. Sex certainly is one of them. Look at the number of products – abdominal exercises, health clubs, cars, Club Med, clothes, beer, soft drinks, chewing gum – that feature attractive bodies in their ads and commercials. It may be sexist or base, but it works.

Similarly, you can use visuals to get prospects to pay attention. Parents (and almost everyone else) are attracted to pictures of babies and young children. Puppies and kittens also strike a chord in our hearts. Appealing visuals can get your ad noticed.

Since so much advertising is vague and general, being specific in your copy sets it apart from other ads and creates interest. A letter promoting collection services to dental practices begins as follows:

“How we collected over $20 million in unpaid bills over the past 2 years for thousands of dentists nationwide”

Dear Dentist:

It’s true.

In the past 2 years alone, IC Systems has collected more than $20 million in outstanding debt for dental practices nationwide.

That’s $20 million these dentists might not otherwise have seen if they had not hired IC Systems to collect their past-due bills for them.

What gains your attention is the specific figure of $20 million dollars. Every collection agency promises to collect money. But saying that you have gotten $20 million in results is specific, credible, and memorable.

Featuring an offer that is free, low in price, or unusually attractive is also an effective attention-getter. A full-page newspaper ad from Guaranteed Term Life Insurance announces, “NOW … $1 a week buys Guaranteed Term Life Insurance for New Yorkers over 50.” Not only does the $1 offer draw you in, but the headline also gains attention by targeting a specific group of buyers (New Yorkers over 50).

You know that in public speaking, you can gain attention by shouting or talking loudly. This direct approach can work in copy, especially in retail advertising. An ad for Lord & Taylor department store proclaims in large, bold type: STARTS TODAY … ADDITIONAL 40% OFF WINTER FASHIONS.” Not clever or fancy, but of interest to shoppers looking to save money.

Another method of engaging the prospect’s attention is to ask a provocative question. Bits & Pieces, a management magazine, begins its subscription mailing

with this headline: “What do Japanese managers have that American managers sometimes lack?” Don’t you want to at least read the next sentence to find the answer.

A mailing for a book club has this headline on the outer envelope:

Why is the McGraw-Hill Chemical Engineers’ Book Club giving away practically for FREE – this special 50th Anniversary Edition of PERRY’S CHEMICAL ENGINEERS’ HANDBOOK?

To chemical engineers, who know that Perry’s costs about $125 per copy, the fact that someone would give it away is indeed a curiosity – and engineers, being curious people, want to get the answer.

Injecting news into copy, or announcing something that is new or improved, is also a proven technique for getting attention. A mailing offering subscriptions to the newsletter Dr. Atkins’s Health Revelations has this headline on the cover:

“Here Are Astonishing Nutritional Therapies and Alternative Treatments You’ll Never Hear About From the Medical Establishment, the FDA, Drug Companies or Even Your Doctor …”

decades of medical research breakthroughs from the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine … revealed at last!

The traditional Madison Avenue approach to copy – subtle word play and cleverness – often fails to get attention because many people reading the ad either don’t get it, or if they do get it, they don’t think it’s that funny (or they think it’s funny but that doesn’t compel them to read the ad or buy the product).

A newspaper ad for New Jersey hospital, promoting its facilities for treating kidney stones without surgery (ultrasonic sound waves are used to painlessly break up and dissolve the stone), carried this headline:

The End of the Stone Age.

Clever? Yes. But as former kidney stone patients, we can tell you that having kidney stones is not a fun, playful subject, and this headline misses the mark. The kidney stone sufferer wants to know he can go to his local hospital, get fast treatment, avoid an operation and a hospital stay, have the procedure be painless, and get rid of the kidney stones that are causing his current discomfort. Therefore, the headline,

Get Rid of Painful Kidney Stones – Without Surgery!

While less clever, is more direct, and works better with this topic and this audience.

As you now know, David Ogilvy was a renowned advertising executive who was often called “The Father of Advertising.” Time Magazine dubbed him “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry. That was in 1962, after he’d been in the business for 24 years and had revolutionized the way copywriters created ads.

Ogilvy wrote about his approach to advertising in Confessions of an Advertising Man, first published in 1963. Some people believe this served as the model for Mad Men’s Don Draper, and indeed, if you look at pictures of Ogilvy, he was just as dashing as the TV character.

Ogilvy’s work followed four basic principles:

Creative brilliance: Copywriters needed to come up with brilliant concepts. They need to not only caught readers’ attention, but sell them on the product. He was a proponent of what was called the “big idea,” one brilliant idea that would be central to each ad campaign.

Research: Ogilvy did not believe in “blowing smoke.” His copy was meticulously based in fact. He did the necessary research to uncover the one amazing fact around which he could build an entire ad campaign; this often served as the basis for his “big idea.”

Actual Results: Ogilvy was a strong believer in judging the quality of an ad by its success at selling something. Always test the outcome of an ad, and if it isn’t selling, make whatever changes are necessary to make it work.

Professional Discipline: Advertising executives were not to be dabblers in the creative realm. They needed to hone their craft and develop programs to train the next generation of advertisers.

The Most Famous Headline in Advertising History

Ogilvy wrote many famous ads during his career, but the one that is said to have been the most famous headline in advertising history was the one he created for Rolls-Royce. The headline read:

“At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”

This groundbreaking ad illustrates all the principles that made Ogilvy’s work so great.

The headline itself was a wonderful example of the “big idea.” No one had ever seen a headline like that before. It intrigued people and pulled them in to read the rest of the ad.

The body of the ad was made up of 13 facts that were interesting, and clearly explained why the Rolls-Royce was so unique, and worth its sky-high price.

And of course he tested the ad in a number of venues before launching the nationwide campaign.

You might think that copywriters just sit around waiting for inspiration to come, but that’s not the way it actually works. In describing the process he used to write the Rolls-Royce ad, Ogilvy said he started out, as he always did, by doing his homework. He claimed this was a tedious process, but a necessary one.

He said that as a copywriter you had to study the product and find out as much about it as you can. The more you know about a product, the more likely you are to be able to come up with the big idea.

When he got the Rolls-Royce account, he spent three weeks reading about the car. In the process he came upon this statement from one of the engineers: “At sixty miles an hour, the loudest noise comes from the electric clock.” That became the headline, which was followed by 607 words of factual copy.

In a sense, Ogilvy didn’t even write the world’s most famous headline; he took it from a report. But his genius was in recognizing the power of the statement to work as the lead-in to the rest of the ad.

Of course the rest of the ad pulled its weight too. Each of the carefully crafted 13 points raised and then answered a question the reader might have. It even addressed the issue of price in a clever way, stating that the Bentley, manufactured by the same company, was exactly the same except for the grille, and a much reduced price. People could buy a Bentley “if they feel diffident about driving a Rolls-Royce.” This would subtly appeal to Rolls-Royce buyers, who would never see themselves as being diffident about anything.

Lessons for Advertisers Today

Ogilvy brought a modern touch to advertising that really made his work stand out – and also made it tremendously effective.

Many of the copywriters I work with do just as he said; they spend tons of time researching before they ever start writing. Very often the facts themselves give rise to the “big idea” that will really sell the product. It’s the perspiration of research that gives rise to the creative inspiration.

We should also remember to always deal in facts. Especially today, consumers are wary of empty claims that seem to have nothing to back them up. In advertising your product or service, you should provide fact after fact that explains why what you’re selling has the most benefits for your prospect.

And as we always say, test and test again. That’s the only way to arrive at the best ad or longer sales piece that will get you the best results.

Some David Ogilvy Quotes

I just want to finish with some of my favorite quotes from David Ogilvy. They really sum up his philosophy that advertisers would do well to follow today:

“The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.”

“In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.”

“It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.”

“Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”

“A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.”

[And here’s one that I just like.]

“Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won’t think you’re going gaga.”

In his new book “How to Market to High-Net-Worth Households” (The Business Institute), my friend Paul Karasik gives a Beat networking technique — the “You know how/what I do” statement.

The first part begins with, “You know how.’ The second part begins with, “What I do is.”

Example (for a financial planner): “YOU KNOW HOW lots of divorced women are overwhelmed with the responsibility of dealing with their finances. WHAT I DO IS provide safe investment opportunities so they can stop worrying and get their lives back on track.”

Example (for business development guru): YOU KNOW HOW lots of businesses who are “Too Busy Making A Living, Too Make Any Real Money”. WHAT I DO IS provide the systems for working ON THEIR BUSINESS. End goal, to dramatically reduce the massive amount of money being left on the table. When was the last time you inspected, scrutinized, and studied your Direct Response Marketing, Ethical Persuasion Skills, and Measured Your One to Many Content Strategies?

Why this works: (a) It focuses on the prospect, not your company, product, or service, (b) it leads with a point of self-interest to the prospect, (c) it establishes both empathy and authority (it, showing that you understand the listener’s situation better than others in your profession), and (d) it stresses benefits, not features.

Action step: Compose a “You know how/what I do” statement for your business and test it out the next time someone asks you, “What do you do°

There is a wealth of free business development content at my websites.

“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement,” wrote Samuel Johnson.

Today we know he was right: to break through the clutter and generate a profitable response, direct marketing must make a big promise.

Some examples of big promises from recent direct mail packages: “Retire overseas on $600 a month.”

“Free money reserved for you.”

“John F. Kennedy had it. So did Princess Diana. ftichael Jordan has it now.

It’s the reason why millions of people adore them. Look inside to find out what it is and how you can get it.”

Testing shows that, at least in consumer direct marketing, small promises don’t work. To get attention and generate interest, you have to make a large, powerful promise.

But there’s a problem: What happens if the reader is skeptical … because the big promise is so fantastic, it sounds too good to be true? In that case, use a “Secondary Promise.”

The Secondary Promise is a lesser benefit that the product also delivers. Although not as large as the Big Promise, the Secondary Promise should be big enough so that, by itself, it is reason enough to order the product … yet small enough so that it is easily believed.

This way, even if the reader is totally skeptical about the Big Promise, he can believe the Secondary Promise and order on that basis alone.

For instance, a recent investment promotion had a big promise in its headline:

“Crazy as it Sounds, Shares of This Tiny R&D Company, Selling for $2 Today, Could be Worth as ftuch as $100 in the Not-Too-Distant Future.”

That’s a really big promise – having a stock go from $2 to $100 is a gain of 4,900%. On a thousand shares, your profit would be $98,000.

The problem is, in a bear market, this gain may, to some readers, be too high to be believable. Yet, in this case, it was the truth: If the company’s medical device won FDA approval, a

50-fold increase in share price was not out of the question. The solution: a subhead, placed directly under the Big Promise in the headline, made a Secondary Promise:

“I think this new technology for treating liver disease is going to work. And if it does, the stock price could easily increase 50-fold or more.

“But even if it doesn’t … and the company’s treatment is a total failure … the stock could still earn early-stage investors a 500% gain on their shares within the next 24 months.”

The catch was this: Even if the treatment did not win FDA approval, the company would still make a lot of money (thought not as much as with the treatment being approved) using the same technology in a different application. So even if the Big Promise didn’t pan out, the Secondary Promise was enough to make the stock worth owning.

There are many techniques you can use to prove your Big Promise when your reader is skeptical. These include testimonials … case studies … test results … favorable reviews … superior product design … track record … system or methodology … reputation of the manufacturer.

All are good. But the trouble is this: If the Big Promise is so strong that readers are inclined to dismiss it as false, you find yourself arguing with them and going against their ingrained belief when you introduce all this proof.

I would still present the proof, but an easier way to overcome doubt concerning the Big Promise is to always accompany it with a Secondary Promise that is desirable yet smaller and more credible.

The Secondary Promise is your “back-up” promise. In a package with both a Big Promise and a Secondary Promise, the Big Promise will attract readers because it is so large – and if you offer enough proof, many of those readers will believe it.

What about those prospects who are not convinced? Without a Secondary Promise, they simply toss your mailing without responding.

But when you add a Secondary Promise and make it prominent (which means featuring it in the headline or the lead), many of those who reject the Big Promise as being unbelievable

will find the Secondary Promise credible … and appealing enough to sell them all on its own.

Actually, with a Secondary Promise, prospects who don’t fully believe your Big Promise can still be sold by it. They think: “Hey, if this Big Promise happens to be true, this is a good product to buy; but even if it isn’t true, the product is more than worth the price just for the Secondary Promise – which I am sure is true – by itself. So either way, I can’t lose.”

And if you use both a Big Promise and a Secondary Promise in your next promotion, neither can you. And that’s a promise.

The Generic Determination Rule is one of those small but too often overlooked response- improvers many marketers ignore: The generic determines reaction more than the number.

While this may seem abstruse, it isn’t: What it means is that, in numerical evaluation, a key word has more impact than a total. For example, one mile seems to be a greater distance than 5,280 feet. For the marketer, the Generic Determination Rule can apply both ways. If one wants a quantity to seem to be less, it would be one pint; if that marketer wants the same quantity to seem to be more, it would be half a quart.

So to suggest fast shipment, one says, “We’ll ship your order within 24 hours” instead of “We’ll ship your order the next day.” To show greater length – to suggest a worthier

inspection time, for example – the option would be for “one full month” rather than for “30 days.” The power stems from the generic, month or days, rather than from the number, one or 30.

Thus, 12 months seems to be a shorter time than one year. So “Guaranteed for one full year” suggests a lengthier guarantee than “Guaranteed for 12 full months.”

Proof? If that television show were called “One Hour” instead of “Sixty ftinutes,” ratings would plummet.